17 research outputs found
Origin and ascent history of unusually crystal-rich alkaline basaltic magmas from the western Pannonian Basin
The last eruptions of the monogenetic Bakony-Balaton Highland Volcanic Field
(western Pannonian Basin, Hungary) produced unusually crystal- and xenolith-rich
alkaline basalts which are unique among the alkaline basalts of the Carpathian-
Pannonian Region. Similar alkaline basalts are only rarely known in other volcanic
fields of the world. These special basaltic magmas fed the eruptions of two closely
located volcanic centres: the BondorĂł-hegy and the FĂĽzes-tĂł scoria cone. Their
uncommon enrichment in diverse crystals produced unique rock textures and modified
original magma compositions (13.1-14.2 wt.% MgO, 459-657 ppm Cr, 455-564 ppm Ni
contents).
Detailed mineral-scale textural and chemical analyses revealed that the BondorĂł-hegy
and FĂĽzes-tĂł alkaline basaltic magmas have a complex ascent history, and that most
of their minerals (~30 vol.% of the rocks) represent foreign crystals derived from
different levels of the underlying lithosphere. The most abundant xenocrysts, olivine,
orthopyroxene, clinopyroxene and spinel, were incorporated from different regions and
rock types of the subcontinental lithospheric mantle. Megacrysts of clinopyroxene and
spinel could have originated from pegmatitic veins / sills which probably represent
magmas crystallized near the crust-mantle boundary. Green clinopyroxene xenocrysts
could have been derived from lower crustal mafic granulites. Minerals that crystallized
in situ from the alkaline basaltic melts (olivine with Cr-spinel inclusions, clinopyroxene,
plagioclase, Fe-Ti oxides) are only represented by microphenocrysts and overgrowths
on the foreign crystals. The vast amount of peridotitic (most common) and mafic
granulitic materials indicates a highly effective interaction between the ascending
magmas and wall rocks at lithospheric mantle and lower crustal levels. However,
fragments from the middle and upper crust are absent from the studied basalts,
suggesting a change in the style (and possibly rate) of magma ascent in the crust.
These xenocryst- and xenolith-rich basalts yield divers tools for estimating magma
ascent rate that is important for hazard forecasting in monogenetic volcanic fields.
According to the estimated ascent rates, the BondorĂł-hegy and FĂĽzes-tĂł alkaline
basaltic magmas could have reached the surface within hours to few days, similarly to
the estimates for other eruptive centres in the Pannonian Basin which were fed by
"normal" (crystal- and xenolith-poor) alkaline basalts